Customary
by The Jasper Raven
Summary: It's common custom to give someone a token of appreciation on Valentine's Day. The last thing C.C. expects is to receive one of those tokens herself. [Lelouch/C.C.]


**Title: **"Customary"

**Authoress: **Sasukez

**Anime/Manga: **Code Geass

**Pairing: **LelouchxC.C.

**Rating: **K+ for: romantic elements and very mild language

**Occasion: **Valentine's Day 2010

**Disclaimer: **The anime/manga, "Code Geass," and all objects coinciding belong to Ichiro Okouchi and their respective owners.

**A/N: **This is my first attempt writing for the Code Geass fandom. I've had this idea since last Valentine's Day and I'm excited to finally give it some attention. I'm not sure how the end result will turn out but, I'm hoping that if I keep everyone in character, the overall idea will settle in nicely. Regardless of the turnout, I hope you all enjoy!

**Set: **Early in the first series…Let's say, before Yuphemia died. Before _anyone _died really.

* * *

"You're alive! Congratulations. I knew this holiday wasn't as bad as you made it out to be."

Lelouch shot a glare in C.C.'s direction upon his return from school that day. Stupid, oblivious witch girl. She had no idea of the horrors he'd endured that day. She grinned at him, appearing oh so innocent and honest but, he knew better. That was her "in-you-face" smile. They'd made a bet that morning that if he didn't come home that afternoon, she'd have to figure out how to cook and get at least one person in the house to like it. If he _did _come home he had to treat her to all the pizza she wanted without complaint.

"This holiday is definitely as bad as I said," Lelouch growled, shutting his bedroom door and slinging his backpack around and in front of him.

"Well, you're not dead and you don't look _that _bad," C.C. observed, leaning forward on the bed and giving him a once over. "You just look as bad as you do when you first wake up."

He glared at her again and she continued to smile up at him. He felt like he'd just been in an explosive Knightmare collision and when he glanced at the mirror, he thought he almost looked as if he was. His hair was disheveled, there were dark, exhausted rings under his eyes, and his face was flushed from running around so much that day.

"Sooooo?" C.C. droned. "When do I get my prize?"

Sighing miserably, Lelouch stalked over to his desk, dropping a big handful of pink and red papers on the bed in front of C.C..

"Here. Play with those in the mean time."

"What are they?" she asked, curiously picking up a red heart lined with lace.

"Valentines," he grumbled in disgust, dropping his bag at the foot of his desk and flopping down in his rolling chair.

"Since when were you so popular with the ladies?" C.C. chuckled, scanning each lovey-dovey word on every heart-shaped piece of paper.

"Who knows?" he groaned, running a hand through his tangled hair. "For to long though, that's for sure."

"I'm starting to understand why you thought you wouldn't make it," she said, wrinkling her nose at a very stalker sounding poem. "How _did _you survive?"

"Years of experience," he replied, picking up the phone next to him. "How many?"

"How many what?" C.C. replied, focused intently on all the love notes before her.

"Pizzas," he growled through his teeth, clearly having no patience whatsoever after the hell he'd been through that day.

"Oh!" C.C. started, still half on the subject of pizza and half on the subject of Valentine's Day. "Ten."

"You'll eat ten pizzas?" Lelouch asked in disbelief, thinking she was kidding just to annoy him.

"Not in one night," she answered. "Reheated pizza tastes just as good as fresh pizza."

"Whatever," he mumbled, leaning his elbows on the desk and placing a hand over his eyes while he waited for the restaurant to pick up.

C.C. rolled her eyes at his short temper and continued to rifle through the valentines while he placed an order for delivery. She found the whole holiday quite sweet actually. That someone would go through the trouble of expressing possibly unrequited feelings was somehow heart-warming to the green-haired girl. She also found the desperation behind the words of Lelouch's fangirls quite amusing.

"Chocolate?"

C.C. started in surprise when three, heart-shaped boxes landed in front of her on top of the multiple shades of red paper.

"You get candy on this holiday too?" she asked in wonder.

"How can you have lived for so long and never have experienced Valentine's Day before?" Lelouch inquired, flopping down on the bed behind her.

"I was focused on more important things," she said, shifting the boxes off of the cards and taking a piece of cream-filled candy from the top box. "Celebrating holidays was not on the top of my list of things to do."

"That's right," he said after a short pause. "I forgot. Sorry."

"Don't be. I require no pity," she said, returning her gaze to the paper sentiments while devouring the chocolates beside her.

"Enjoying yourself?" Lelouch asked, folding his arms behind his head and staring at the ceiling.

"Very much," C.C. replied. "There are some perks to being the high school heartthrob after all. You get to bring me sweets."

Lelouch smirked at her logic. Typical, selfish C.C..

"You don't want any?" she asked, twisting around and nudging a chocolate box his way.

"No thank you. You're enjoying them far more than I never will."

"That's for sure," she chortled, popping another piece in her mouth and returning to her treasure trove of fangirl cards.

Her brows knit together as her eyes fell upon a particularly different card. It was dark purple and a picture of a pizza cut in the shape of a heart was pasted on the front. C.C. leaned back and lay down on the bed, her long, green hair falling over Lelouch's face. He growled in protest and brushed it off onto the sheets.

"Who's this one from?" C.C. asked, dangling the purple card over his face.

"That one's for you," Lelouch said, resettling himself and closing his tired eyes.

C.C. blinked once in confusion and drew the card back in front of her.

"For me?" she said, absently, smiling when she opened it up. "From you?"

Written inside was: "You win. I'll get you all the pizza you want until the end of the month."

"You only had to treat me today though," she said.

"I know," he yawned. "It's my gift to you."

"…Gift? What's the occasion?" C.C. continued to question him, staring at the card in her hands in confusion.

"Valentine's Day of course," he chuckled, like it was such an obvious answer.

"I thought valentines were only exchanged between lovers."

"Not all the time."

"Are you sure?"

"I've been pelted with marriage proposals and sex passes long enough to know a thing or two about Valentine's Day, C.C.. I'm sure."

There was another pause and C.C. could not draw her gaze away from her valentine. It was the first one she'd ever gotten. And it was from Lelouch? Now she was just finding this holiday weird and puzzling.

"Why would you go through the trouble of making me something like this?" she pondered.

He sighed in irritation at her pesky questions. He was too tired to explain it to her but, she clearly wasn't going to leave him along until she understood.

"It's customary and traditional for every guy to give out at least _one _valentine to a girl each year."

"And you gave it to _me_?"

"You're the only girl I know."

"That's not true. What about Shirley?" she argued.

"Please," he snorted in disgust. "She'd be in a wedding dress before the week was up."

"Kallen?"

"I just met her."

"You've just met me."

"You're different," he sighed, not really caring what he was saying, so long as she was quiet already.

"How so?" she asked as he rolled onto his side, facing his back to her.

"I don't know," he groaned. "You live in my house."

"So?"

"What do you want me to say?" he retorted in aggravation.

"Just tell me the truth," she said, matter-of-factly, unfazed by his grumpiness.

"Fine! You're the first girl I kissed. Now move over."

C.C. smiled at the answer as he nudged her to the side and swung his legs onto the bed, moving his head onto the pillows.

"That kiss didn't mean anything," she said. "I thought you knew that."

"I do," he said, voice muffled by the pillows. "Now go to sleep."

"Its three o' clock," she laughed, loving how he was trying to avoid the conversation. "If you knew the kiss meant nothing then why did you make me this?"

"Because I know you've never gotten a valentine gift and I felt like being nice," he said in a rush, wanting to go to sleep more than anything now.

C.C. had no response for his answer. She contemplated his words carefully as she gazed at the card. Was Lelouch really that thoughtful? She didn't take him for someone who would ever in a million years hint at to what was going on in his head.

"I didn't think you were so generous," she said, softly, spinning the purple paper around in her fingers more fondly.

"Me?" he chuckled. "Not generous? Where have you been for the past two months?"

"I sometimes forget that you and Zero are one and the same," she laughed, quietly. "Whose idea was it to give this to me? His or yours?"

"Sleeping, C.C.."

She giggled at his insistence to drop the conversation. He was in denial. He had to be. It made her feel all warm and fuzzy inside to know that he cared enough about her to be her first valentine.

"Lelouch?" she piped, softly.

She received no answer. The grouch must have fallen asleep. C.C. sat up on the bed and looked down at him. He really was kind-hearted, she realized. She'd seen it come out when he was with Nunnally and when he was saving lives from Britannian cruelty. She really could see him caring about her feelings enough to give her a small token of appreciation, no matter how much he denied it.

Not really giving it much thought, C.C. leaned down and kissed the side of his face before settling on the pillows beside him and admiring her valentine.

"Nothing?" he sighed in exhaustion beside her.

A playful smirk crossed her lips. It would be no fun at all to give him a straight answer. Besides, he liked games when he wasn't tired. A new puzzle for him to figure out could be her gift to him in return.

"Maybe it did," she said, hugging Lelouch's valentine to her heart. "Maybe it didn't."

* * *

**Author's Review: **I confused myself in the explanation questions and answers. My head was pounding by the time I got to the end. Otherwise, I was actually proud of how this turned out! Usually my oneshots suck but, I liked how this one ended up! Please tell me what you think! Thank you!


End file.
